Mark Burnett visits Burlington to promote The Bible

Diogo Morgado as Jesus in The Bible, a 10-part miniseries from Mark Burnett premiering March 13 on History Canada.

By:Bill BriouxSpecial to the Star, Published on Wed Jan 30 2013

At first, it sounds almost sacrilegious: Mark Burnett producing a miniseries based on the Bible?

To some scripted TV lovers, Burnett, the creator and executive producer of four of the highest-rated reality shows currently on television — Survivor, The Voice, Celebrity Apprentice and Shark Tank — is the anti-Christ. What’s he going to do, have Donald Trump tell Satan, “You’re fired”? Snuff Judas’s Tiki torch? Conclude the Last Supper with Jeff Probst saying, “I’ll go tally the votes”?

Burnett has faced non-believers before, especially those who thought Survivor would barely last a week when it launched in the spring of 2000. Thirteen years and 26 editions later, it is still the No. 1 show on TV Wednesday nights and savvy Burnett is one of the wealthiest producers in the history of television.

Burnett can afford to do whatever he wants and what he wants — sparked by his actress-wife Roma Downey’s passion for the project — is to present this 10-part, $20-million miniseries, The Bible.

Shot in Morocco and featuring an international cast, it premieres March 13 in Canada on History and the same day on U.S. cable, concluding on Easter Sunday.

Burnett and Downey were in the Toronto recently to do a little Bible thumping. The Hollywood power couple appeared before the converted at a special screening of The Bible at the Crossroads Christian Communications broadcast facility in Burlington, Ont.

Downey, who starred for nine seasons on the CBS religious drama Touched by an Angel, has been working on the project for 3-1/2 years. Raised Irish Catholic, she says she was driven by her deep faith to produce a modern Bible story her teenagers would not find “lame.” She suggested the project so often Burnett began referring to her as “the whisperer.” Her faith and passion and his business acumen eventually turned it into a reality.

While Burnett’s church is the secular world of network TV, he let it be known that he is no last minute convert to Christianity. Growing up in England, there were several Bibles in the home and they were read. One belonged to an uncle who lived in Hamilton, Ont., and was killed in the Second World War. Burnett says one of his earliest childhood memories is of the crisp Canadian maple leaves pressed inside the pages of that Bible.

Noting the current success of small-screen epics such as Game of Thrones, Spartacus and even Downton Abbey, Burnett, ever the salesman, calls The Bible the “ultimate period piece.”

Admitting that 10 hours just isn’t enough to dramatize the entire Bible, Burnett, 52, says this is a selective adaptation. Nevertheless, he feels viewers will feel “emotionally connected” to the main characters.

Clips were screened for about 100 invited guests in the main studio at Crossroads. Shown were such key scenes as Jesus meeting John the Baptist, dividing the loaves and fishes, and walking on water as the frightened apostles clung to their fishing boat. The visuals, as Downey had suggested earlier, showed how far digital effects have come compared to similar scenes in such aging biblical epics as The Ten Commandments.

The cast is largely made up of lesser known actors, although Downey herself appears in a key role. The original script called for there to be a “Young Mary” at the time of the birth of Jesus and an “Old Mary” at the time of his crucifixion. “I changed it to ‘Mother Mary,’” she jokes, rejecting the “Old” label.

Portuguese TV star Diogo Morgado plays Jesus. Downey says the couple prayed to find the right actor and sent out emails to friends to do likewise. Burnett now can’t imagine any other actor in the part.

Downey used the same method to meet her husband. Married twice before, the 52-year-old took the advice of her Touched by an Angel co-star Della Reese, whom she refers to as “mentor and mother.” Reese told Downey to pray for God to find her a husband because “you haven’t chosen very well yourself.”

Downey says her prayers were answered when she was having her nails done at a Malibu salon. Burnett just happened to be getting his hair cut a few chairs over. The two locked eyes three times, says Downey. When she later asked the receptionist, “Who was that guy?” the receptionist answered, “Funny, he just asked who you are.”

Burnett sheepishly admitted that he got her number from the receptionist but had the salon call first to find out if Downey would go out with him. “I don’t like to be rejected,” he says.

Burnett never gets rejected now, especially in TV circles. Tuesday’s gathering in Burlington, however, may have been a first. Crossroads CEO Donald Simmonds asked those gathered to stand and pray for the couple and the success of the series.

In a business where ratings are often the only religion, it was a leap of faith Burnett and Downey seemed only too happy to embrace.

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